I have been watching something strange happen. Not on the news, not in some distant corner of the internet, but right in the mainstream of our cultural attention. A growing number of our most prominent influencers are, to put it bluntly, absolute disasters.
A streamer whose claim to fame includes a roach-infested house and dead rats in his kitchen. A pair of brothers who built an empire on misogyny and now face extradition on charges of rape and sex trafficking. A man who livestreamed himself harassing Black people with racial slurs, then allegedly shot one—and received over $130,000 in donations after his arrest.
These are not fringe figures. They are not obscure trolls hiding in the shadows. They are some of the most visible, most followed, most celebrated personalities on the internet. And the question I keep coming back to is this: What the hell is wrong with us?
At first, I thought it was simple rubbernecking. The same impulse that makes people slow down to stare at a car crash. A dark curiosity, a fascination with watching someone self-destruct. But the more I looked into it, the more I realized it was something deeper. Something more uncomfortable.
What Is a Shit-Influencer?
Let me define what I mean, because this is not about people who are simply imperfect or who have made mistakes. This is about individuals whose entire brand is built on being objectively terrible.
Asmongold (Zack Hoyt) is one of the biggest streamers on Twitch. His house has been a meme for years—not because it is messy, but because it is genuinely disgusting. Dead rats. Roach infestations. A toilet so foul it went viral when another streamer saw it. Beyond the hygiene issues, he has been banned multiple times for racist comments, including calling Palestinians "inferior" and making remarks about Black people that many viewers interpreted as implying genetic inferiority. He has millions of followers.
The Tate brothers (Andrew and Tristan) are self-described misogynists who have built a social media empire on promoting "alpha male" dominance and aggressively misogynistic themes. Andrew Tate has amassed more than 10 million followers on X, most of them boys and young men. He and his brother are currently facing extradition to the UK on charges of rape and sex trafficking. A UN special rapporteur has called for them to face justice, citing "the scale of the alleged offences" and their "global influence in promoting misogyny and harmful models of masculinity".
"Chud the Builder" (Dalton Eatherly) livestreamed himself walking through Nashville, shouting racial slurs at Black people, threatening violence, and daring them to retaliate. In May 2026, he allegedly shot a Black man outside a courthouse. He was charged with attempted murder. After his arrest, a fundraiser set up by Eatherly himself raised over $130,000 from supporters.
These are not isolated cases. They are examples of a broader pattern.
The "Look at That Wreck" Theory
My first instinct was to reach for the simplest explanation: we cannot look away from a disaster. It is the same psychology that makes car crashes so compelling. We watch because we are fascinated by dysfunction. We watch because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
There is truth to this. But it is not the whole truth.
Downward social comparison is a well-documented psychological phenomenon. When we compare ourselves to people we perceive as worse off than us, it boosts our self-esteem. It is the psychological equivalent of looking at someone who is drowning and thinking, "Well, at least I am not that guy."
But here is where it gets complicated: the people we are watching are not just "worse off" than us. They are more successful than us. They have millions of followers. They make enormous amounts of money. They have influence, power, and cultural reach. They are not failures—they are winners who happen to be terrible people.
So why do we elevate them?
The Real Answer: Self-Pardon
Here is what I have come to believe, and it is not a comfortable conclusion: We put these people on a pedestal not despite their flaws, but because of them. They are not role models we aspire to emulate. They are get-out-of-jail-free cards we use to pardon ourselves.
Think about it. When you watch Asmongold live in a house full of roaches and dead rats, you can say to yourself, "Well, at least I am not that bad." When you watch Andrew Tate spew his toxic garbage, you can think, "Well, at least I am not a misogynist." When you watch Chud the Builder harass Black people on the street, you can feel a quiet sense of superiority: "Well, at least I am not a racist."
But here is the catch: the bar has been set so low that clearing it requires almost nothing. You can be a mediocre partner, a neglectful parent, a lazy employee, a selfish friend—and still feel like a good person, because at least you are not him.
This is the psychological payoff. These shit-influencers do not inspire us to be better. They excuse us from trying.
The Enshittification of Society
This brings me to the broader consequence: the gradual, creeping enshittification of our collective culture.
Cory Doctorow coined the term "enshittification" to describe how online platforms inevitably degrade as they prioritize profit over user experience. But the concept applies more broadly. When we elevate the worst among us, we lower the standard for everyone. We normalize dysfunction. We make mediocrity acceptable and outright awfulness merely "not as bad as that guy."
The term "shitposting" originally described low-effort, ironic, deliberately absurd content—often a form of countercultural pushback. But what happens when the people themselves become shitposts? When our influencers are not just posting garbage but are garbage?
The Human Cost
Let us be clear about the real-world consequences. The Tate brothers are not just annoying; they are actively harmful. Research has shown that their content mainstreams misogynistic "manosphere" ideologies and influences young boys to adopt sexist, anti-feminist behavior. One analysis found that boys as young as 13–14 are being influenced by Tate's messaging, contributing to rising levels of misogyny and harassment in schools.
Chud the Builder's content did not stay online. It spilled into the real world—allegedly in the form of an actual shooting. His supporters did not condemn him; they funded him.
Asmongold's influence is more subtle but no less concerning. His cynicism and nihilism have become a worldview for millions of followers. One analysis described his appeal as follows: "His cynicism is his brand. His nihilism is his sermon. And his audience of millions treats him like a prophet—a man brave enough to say that the world is stupid, hopeless, and corrupt, while somehow pretending that he himself stands above it all".
When our role models tell us that the world is hopeless and that we are justified in our worst impulses, we listen. And we act accordingly.
What We Are Really Saying
Here is the uncomfortable truth that I keep circling back to: the rise of the shit-influencer says more about us than it does about them.
We are the ones watching. We are the ones following. We are the ones donating, sharing, and elevating. We are the ones who have decided, collectively, that these people deserve our attention and our money.
Why? Because they give us permission. Permission to be lazy. Permission to be selfish. Permission to be mediocre. Permission to look at our own shortcomings and say, "Well, at least I am not that guy."
This is not about them. It is about us. And until we recognize that, nothing will change.
What We Can Do About It
I am not here to tell you to stop watching entirely. I am not here to moralize. What I am here to say is this: be intentional about your content consumption. This is the same principle I have applied to gaming, to social media, to every aspect of my digital life.
Ask yourself: Why am I watching this person? What am I getting out of this? Is this making me a better person, or is it just making me feel better about being mediocre?
The algorithms are designed to keep you engaged, not to make you better. They reward outrage, controversy, and dysfunction because those things keep you watching. You have to be the one who decides when to stop.
You can also choose to elevate something else. There are creators out there who are genuinely good people—who build communities, who inspire growth, who model healthy behavior. They are harder to find because they do not generate the same outrage-fueled engagement. But they exist. And they need your attention more than the shit-influencers do.
The Bottom Line
The rise of the shit-influencer is not an accident. It is a symptom of a deeper cultural sickness—a collective desire to lower the bar so that none of us have to clear it. We elevate the worst among us so that we can feel better about being merely mediocre.
But here is the thing: mediocrity is not a life. It is a holding pattern. And if we keep looking to the worst people on the internet for permission to stay stuck, we will stay stuck forever.
I am not asking you to be perfect. I am not asking you to stop watching the car crash. I am asking you to recognize what you are doing when you watch it. I am asking you to be honest about why you are there.
Because the first step to changing anything is admitting that you have a problem. And right now, we all have a problem.
Bruised Wayne
Find me at:
YouTube : Gaming for Mental Health
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Sources
1. Dexerto (2026). "Female streamer spawns in Asmongold's house and is instantly grossed out by his toilet." Documents the viral reaction to the state of Asmongold's living conditions, including his toilet and roach-infested house.
2. NewsBreak (2026). "Asmongold responds after his 'streamer friend' faces gold digger claims." Notes that Asmongold's house "has been a meme for a long time for being a roach and dead rat-infested mess".
3. Hindustan Times / Al Bawaba (2026). Reports on Asmongold's Twitch bans, including his two-week suspension in October 2024 for calling Palestinians "inferior" and his April 2026 ban.
4. Sports NDTV (2026). "What Did Asmongold Say About Black People?" Reports on backlash over comments many viewers interpreted as implying Black people are "genetically inferior".
5. AP News (2026). "What to know about the Tate brothers, social media influencers facing rape and trafficking charges." Reports Andrew Tate's 10+ million followers on X, his status as a "self-described misogynist," and the charges they face.
6. UN News / AA.com.tr (2026). Reports on UN special rapporteur's statement calling for the Tate brothers to face justice, citing their "global influence in promoting misogyny and harmful models of masculinity".
7. The Intercept (2026). "Chud the Builder Fantasized About 'Race War.' Now He's Charged With Attempted Murder." Documents Dalton Eatherly's racist livestreams, his rhetoric about "race war," and his attempted murder charge.
8. The Root (2026). "How 'Chud the Builder' Went From Racist Streamer to Jailed for Attempted Murder of a Black Man." Details his pattern of using racial slurs and threatening violence against Black people.
9. Newsweek (2026). "Fundraiser for racist streamer 'Chud the Builder,' raises over $130k." Reports on the GiveSendGo campaign that raised over $130,000 following his arrest.
10. TMZ (2026). "Chud The Builder's Fundraiser Flooded With Donations After Attempted Murder Charges." Notes donations ranging from $5 to $2,000 and that the page was set up by Eatherly himself.
11. Medium (2025). "Asmongold and Dead Rat Politics." Describes Asmongold's cynicism as his brand and his nihilism as his sermon, with millions treating him as a prophet.
12. Monash Lens (2025). "Andrew Tate's appeal to young men has nothing to do with toxic masculinity." Analyzes Tate's manipulation of genuine issues like economic hardships and his framing of these as consequences of feminism.
13. The Atlantic (2026). "This Is What It Looks Like When Nothing Matters." Discusses the subtext of egregious shitposting and the sense that the old rules no longer matter.
14. Cyberpsychology (2025). Studies on upward and downward social comparison with influencers. Documents that downward comparison—gauging oneself against less successful others—bolsters self-confidence.
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